What are the best things to do in Tangier?

Tangier is a city for wandering and soaking up atmosphere rather than ticking off grand monuments, and the kasbah and medina are where I always start. Climb up through the old town to the kasbah at the top, with its narrow lanes, the Kasbah Museum housed in the former sultan's palace (Dar el-Makhzen), and viewpoints that open onto the Strait of Gibraltar. From up here you grasp Tangier's whole geography — the point where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet, with the Spanish coast visible across the water. The medina below is a gentler, more navigable tangle than Fes or Marrakech, full of cafes and history.

No visit is complete without the cafe culture, which in Tangier is practically a sight in itself. Cafe Hafa, clinging to the cliffs above the sea since the 1920s, is the legendary spot — tiered terraces where you sip mint tea and watch the ferries cross to Spain, a place that drew the Rolling Stones, Paul Bowles and the Beat writers. Down in the medina, the Petit Socco square and its old cafes were the throbbing heart of the international 'Interzone' era. Tangier's literary and artistic history — Matisse painted here, Bowles lived here, Burroughs wrote here — is woven through these places, and sitting with a tea where they sat is the real experience.

Just outside the city are the headline natural sights, and they are well worth a half-day. Cap Spartel is the dramatic cape where the Atlantic officially meets the Mediterranean, marked by a handsome lighthouse. A little along the coast are the Caves of Hercules, a sea cave whose opening, by happy chance, is shaped like a map of Africa when you look out to the ocean — a classic Tangier photo. The drive out hugs a lovely coastline. Back in town, the American Legation Museum (the first American public property abroad, in the medina) is a fascinating, under-visited gem of shared history.

Round it out with the rejuvenated seafront — the corniche and marina are pleasant for a stroll, and the long bay beach is there for a sea breeze — plus the Grand Socco square with its market energy and the lovely Mendoubia gardens. If you have a day or two, I would balance a morning losing yourself in the kasbah and medina, a mint tea at Cafe Hafa, an afternoon out at Cap Spartel and the Caves, and evenings in the cafes and seafood spots. And remember Tangier's best trick: it is the gateway to Chefchaouen, Tetouan and Asilah, so the best 'thing to do' is often to use it as your base for the beautiful north.